What's an MFA really gonna getcha?

Consider these four tips before you spend all that money!


"Should I go back to school and get my MFA?" a woman recently asked me. It was during the break between speakers at a monthly meeting of the Liberty States Fiction Writers, a NYC area fiction writers' group; we were chatting about the publishing business in general.

The woman was a stay-at-home mom who'd taken a crack at writing a romance novel, and had just had an agent request a partial of her manuscript. Now the woman was wondering if before she "made it big", if she were to actually do so, should she enroll in a 30K a year MFA program at a New Jersey university, so as to be better prepared to work in publishing. I didn't tell her yes or no, because that's none of my business. But it's certainly a great topic to explore here!

Setting the scene
So, here we were, all these writers, many of us published, waiting to hear a speaker discuss how she adheres to a schedule in order to routinely produce 80K words every four months, including revisions, so she can deliver three manuscripts a year to her publisher. This speaker will also go on to explain to the crowd how she parlayed her organizational skills as a technical writer into that of a fiction writer, and also her own business manager. Oh, and before the crowd disperses, we'll be reminded that upcoming speaker events will include NYT bestseller, Eloisa James, who'll be discussing the nuts and bolts of getting published--and staying published after your fabulous debut. Meanwhile, this woman next to me wants to know if an MFA will help her.

Well, honey, to be fair, I didn't get an MFA. But I did earn a BA from a well-known creative writing program that does offer MFA's, and which was founded by one of the so-called gods of American fiction, John Gardner. However, I think more was offered about the actual business of publishing in that one day with the tech-writer-turned-romance-novelist than I ever heard discussed in any of the years I spent in writing workshops.

And the meeting was free with my $35 membership. My BA cost me and my folks a fair more pile of scheckles than all that--and it didn't even come with complimentary snacks.

Also to be fair, I graduated when Reagan was still in office and Brett Easton Ellis was the "it boy" of publishing, so, it's been a while.

Nevertheless, thinking back on it all, it sure would have been nice to have had my degree-granting program include a few tips on how to actually make money in my chosen industry. I might then have been able to shell out more shillings each year when the alumni relations people call. Still being fair--maybe they do actually do that now. There was mention of conferences where aspects of the industry were discussed, but the focus was more on how to express one's self than on how to sell one's work.

So be it. Whatever they're doing, they're still in business.

But if you're going to be a full-time writer, you need to think of yourself as being in business, too. In that case, spending money and time on an MFA had better be a worthwhile investment, don't you think?

Sniff test
Eloisa James is interesting not just because she's a NYT bestselling writer of romance. It's also because she's a noted Shakespearian scholar and wife of an Italian knight. Not your typical profile of a boddice ripper writer, huh?

Well, that's the problem. So many MFA programs concentrate on selling themselves as bastions of literary fiction, turning up their noses at anything less cerebral. (NB: romance writers typically hate being called bodice ripper writers, by the way.) But, literary fiction doesn't really sell well. And if you fear that writers groups are bastions of mediocre writers who don't have a clue whereas creative writing programs are filled with talented scribes who have it goin' on--ha!

Here's a little secret: creative writing programs are often filled with crap writers who write, uh, crap, and then call it any number of things but what it is--crap. That's because if a program's emphasis isn't on what sells, but is instead about "creative expression," then what stinks (crap) has a better chance of sticking around because no one has any real motivation to say--Dude! That's crap! So, be sure you actually like what kind of work is being promoted and celebrated by the program you're interested in attending.

If you think you will gain from being in a more literary environment--and there is certainly a lot to be said for that; I wouldn't trade the experience of having worked with at least two such writers in my college years--then see step number three.

But if what you're after is the ability to make money writing--do your homework before you spend your cash.

Here are some questions to consider:

1. Are you already published? If so, then someone thinks you write well enough, at least for the audience you're being published to reach. Now--if you're a romance novelist who wants to be a poet, though--well, then, an MFA program on poetry might be what makes sense for you.
   
   
2. What are you looking for? If you want to make connections and rub shoulders with other writers just like you, writers groups are a heck of a lot cheaper. It's true that living in certain areas makes it easier to meet up with a greater number of higher-quality writers, but there is the Internet...and there are plenty of writers on it, workshopping with one another. And, if you do join up with other groups, you will invariably hear about and have the opportunities to attend meetings and events where people who can actually help you in your career will be speaking.
   
   
3. Will the money you spend be offset by the money you earn? Feel free to grill the administration of the program you're considering: What skill sets do they teach writers? Do they teach about how to be self-employed? Do they give an overview of the industry and of other ways writers can exist in the world besides drunk and pitiful and down and out, but famous! (Kidding...kinda.) Do they help their writers find work--any kind of work--in the publishing industry? Do they sponsor events where not just writers, but agents, editors, publishers, and distributors, also come to talk about the industry? You get the idea. Make them make the case for why they should take your money, especially if there's only a slim chance you're going to make that money back.
   
   
4. Are you even talented? Enter writing contests, ask other writers (not your mother or lover or spouse--what do you think they're going to say? Duh.), send agents some queries--find out if you really do have talent and commercial viability. If you're not getting the vibe that anyone thinks you have the necessary combo to succeed: talent, work ethic, and skill, then do you think that is what you're going to learn? If so, go back to step three.

Be clear on your strengths and weaknesses before you whip out that check book. If you still think an MFA is right for you, and you have the money to pay for it, do what you want, babe.

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